Faith Promises - God Hears Us

The introduction to this series can be found here.

When I lived in Asia, I would often walk past temples or see god shelves or see the red lights glowing in a home from the family altars.  I would see people bowing and offering incense or putting food on a table as an offering to the gods. Those gods were made of wood. They could not hear. The people would stand and chat but the idol would not hear. I think seeing that has made me realise the comfort we have in a God who hears our cries.

Sometimes it might seem that God doesn't hear us and we might feel that it has been that way for a long time. In Exodus 2:24-25 it says, "And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel and God knew." (ESV) God heard the groaning of his people. In God's time he acted.

I just finished reading II Samuel as I work through my Bible reading this year. I was again reminded of the struggles and challenges that David had from Saul to his own son.  Knowing David's story helps as you read the Psalms. David is being chased, he is on the run, escaping for his life. David calls out to God I have recently found comfort in reading Psalms. In Psalm 4:3 David says, "the Lord hears when I call to him." (ESV)

The promise that God hears us can be the comfort we need when we feel stuck in a situation that is difficult. It can be the comfort when we feel all alone to work through the problems we face. God hears us.

How is this a comfort to you?

Ha

Beth

Faith Promises - God Never Changes

People change. We change our hairstyles, our hair colour. We change what we like and what we don't like. There was a time that I was a Pepsi gal. Somewhere along the way I changed and Coke was my choice. I am still a Coke girl though I limit it. I changed.

Places change. When I go back to the town I grew up in, I see numerous changes. I remember when the first traffic light came to town and now I can't count how many are there. I remember when it was a cornfield behind my parents' house and now there are houses there. Places change.

When I go home, I realise how much things have changed. Some times it is difficult. I don't remember the way to get from one place to another because the roads have changed. There are new roads that I don't remember. There are new stores.

In the midst of all the changes of live knowing that God never changes is comforting. When we are having those fearful moments of "what if", knowing that God, who revealed himself to us in the Bible, is the same God. There is comfort in unchanging.

The God who worked all things for good in Joseph's life will do the same for each of us today. The God of the Old Testament who lead his people out of the slavery is the same God who today will rescue us. The God who spared the lives of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will walk through the fire with us. The God who loved the world enough to send his son is still loving us today.

There is comfort in knowing that God never changes.

"For I the LORD do not change;" Malachi 3:6

Cling to that promise. Have faith in God and drive away the fear.

Beth

Faith Promises - God finishes what he begun

The introduction to this series is here.

If you have read my blog, for any amount of time you know that I have a list of unfinished projects. I have projects that I began eight years ago and some that I began last year but at this point they are all in some level of completion. I have one that I recently looked at and thought, am I really going to finish this? I have not finished all I have begun.

God promises to finish what he has begun.

God has begun a work in us and he has promised to finish that work. As we look through the Bible, we see the work that God has done and how he finished it. He began work at Creation. He finished that and it was good.

God worked in bringing the Israelites out of Egypt where they had been slaves. There was nothing that they were able to do to change their situation. They needed God to work. He worked and took them through some difficult times, the Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh's army behind them, in the wilderness with no water, and enemies fighting them. God was working to show them who he is. God took them to the Promised Land.

God promises to finish what he has begun.

And I am sure of this, 

that he who began a good work in you 

will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 

Philippians 1:6 (ESV)

I love this promise that Paul writes in Philippians. It is such a good reminder to me. As I was thinking about this verse, there were a few things I discovered. 

1. God will finish what he has begun. God is not necessarily finishing what we begun. It is the work that he begun. I have enough of a challenge finishing my own projects, but if I had to finish someone else's it would be even harder. God has a plan and he is working his plan.

2. The completion is at the day of Jesus Christ. God's timetable is not our timetable. We want things now but God often has eternity in view as he is working. We will have complete rest and perfection at the coming of Christ. 

Because of this promise we can have confidence. We have a reminder that God is working in our lives and will finish what he has begun. That is a comfort to me.

Other Faith Promises can be found following the links below:
God Never Changes
God Will Never Leave You

Beth

Faith Promises - I will never leave you

Last week I wrote about Faith vs Fear. I have been thinking about that and thinking about the faith promises. What are the promises that we can cling to and hold onto so we can overcome the fears that creep into our lives?

With faith cling to the promise that God will not leave us.

For me one of the times that this was the promise that I needed to cling to was in the summer of 2013. We were in Singapore for training and while we were there I had some routine medical tests and as a result needed to have a biopsy. Trips back and forth to the hospital, tests, scans, visits with the doctor were filling my days. The fear was creeping in, was it . . .? No, it can't be . . . What if it is . . .? The questions and fears were flying through my head. Until surgery and really until the pathology reports were back a few days after surgery there were unknowns. I had to cling to truths that I did know and one of those truths was that no matter what happened God would be with me. God would never leave me.

We can cling to the promise that God has given us that he will never leave us. As his children, he has promised to never leave us.

This begins in Genesis when God created man in his image. The fellowship and relationship that God had with man was to spend time together. In Exodus after rescuing his people from slavery in Egypt God says, "And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst." Exodus 25:8 (ESV) God wants to be with us.

In Psalm 23 David writes, "for you are with me" (v 4). God is with his people. Isaiah 41:10, "fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God;".

In the New Testament God came to earth. Jesus continues the promise, "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20 (ESV).

God has promised to be with us. Pause and think about it. God has promised to be with us. We have a God who is with us, a God who has come to us not a god we work and try and hope we can be good enough. We have a God who dwells with us.

That faith promise helped me to cast out the fears, not dwell on the what ifs but to keep trusting God. In the end it was just a cyst and nothing more serious. Even if it was more serious I know I can trust in the promise that God gives that he will never leave us.

"It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed" Deuteronomy 31:8 (ESV)

This promise gives courage as we face difficult times. This promise gives hope. This promise can drive away so many fears.

How does this help to cast away the fears you might have?

Beth

Fear vs. Faith

Recently in the Sunday morning sermons we have been working through part of the gospel of Mark. Some time in the past at the top of the page in Mark 4 I wrote, "Faith vs. Fear".  Seeing those words and hearing these sermons again caused me to pause and think about that.

Just to give you a bit of the context at the end of Mark 4 Jesus and the disciples go to the over side of the lake and a great storm comes up. The disciples are afraid but Jesus is sleeping. Jesus calms the storm and asks the question, "Have you still no faith?" (v40)

Then chapter 5 begins with Jesus healing a man with a demon. After that we see Jairus coming to Jesus asking him to come as his daughter is near death but on the way a woman with a bleeding issues reaches out and touches Jesus. Then finally Jesus makes it to Jairus' house but in the eyes of those around it is too late as the little girl has already died but it is never too late for Jesus.

The disciples were afraid, they feared for their lives. If anyone should know how to handle a storm it should be the disciples. A number of them were fishermen. They should not be afraid but they were. The boat was filling with water; they knew they were going to perish.

What happens in our lives when we allow fears to control us.

Fear paralyzes us. We are unable to move forward and grow in our Christian life.

Fear robs us of life. Because of fear we might not do things that we could and should do.

Fear leaves us in chaos. There is no peace in our lives when we are afraid.

Jesus calms the storm and then asks them "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" Are we afraid or are we living with faith?

When we life live with faith, we have freedom from worries and fears. When we have faith, we have peace in our hearts.

What are the fears in your life? It might be finances or health. Maybe you are lonely and fear being all alone. There are so many fears that can distract us and begin to control us. What is the faith that we need for each of those fears?

Faith is claiming God's promises.

What promises from God can we claim for our fears? Maybe the fear is health. One promise might be that God will never leave us. One promise might be that in heaven there is no pain or suffering. What are the promises that God gives us regarding our finances. God has promised to meet our needs. God has promised that he hears us when we call to him.

As I have faced something that could cause me to be fearful, I have paused and thought of the promises from God that counter that fear. I challenge you to do the same with the fears that you might have.

Today what promise do you cling to?


Beth